My Mother, a Kumquat Tree
by Ruby Tu, Camberwell Girls’ Grammar School
Finalist, Years 11 – 12, written poetry
My mother is as beautiful as a kumquat tree,
the tendrils of her love citrus sweet, a piquant
scent upon the pleasant peel of her skin that envelopes me.
Gaia, Nüwa, Demeter, Taweret—against her they’re only decent,
for me at the least. Treacherous crests I am afraid to climb
crumble to smithereens in her presence,
though capable I am of surmounting a dosage of things, time
adorned with her wisdom colours me sturdier in essence.
Forever beholden I’ll be, to who else but she—wavering
as our divulging vitalities are siphoned to whoever’s above or beneath, I merely hope
her unending doting on me, her youngest born sapling,
grows unsoured and fruitful in the manifestation of who I choose to be. The slope
of mortality will unearth itself eventually, and when towards it she someday will tread,
I’ll plant a kumquat tree in her stead.
Want to read more poems? Explore the other Years 11 – 12 finalists.